TV News LIES

Nearly a year after floodwaters destroyed their home along the Upper Guadalupe River, Juliet and Scott Welden watched construction crews build a new one on the same property.

This time, the house was elevated 8 feet above the ground in hopes that it can withstand another catastrophic flood.

“We watched the water enter our home, and the floors buckled,” Juliet Welden said. “The furniture floated. Rooms began collapsing, and the water kept rising.”

The force of the current pushed the couple out of their house. They survived by clinging to a large bush as the flood tore through their neighborhood.

At least 130 people died along the Upper Guadalupe River after torrential rain struck the Texas Hill Country during the Fourth of July holiday. The Weldens’ rebuilding effort has been supported by federal disaster assistance and contributions from churches, foundations and other community organizations.

“The local community — there’s a lot of love, compassion, kindness, generosity,” she said, adding that churches and private groups often provided the most immediate assistance.

The Weldens expect to move into their new home in October.

Less than 100 miles away, survivors along Sandy Creek describe a much different recovery.

More...

A federal appeals court reversed a lower court’s order requiring the National Park Service (NPS) to restore signs and exhibits that were removed by the Trump administration.

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday halted the ruling, which would have restored park materials that the administration says were purged as part of the administration’s effort to get rid of materials that “disparage” Americans.

The judges determined that the Trump administration “made a strong showing that the harms that the district court relied on” to order the restoration of the materials did not meet the standards for an injunction.

Judges David Barron, Gustavo Gelpí and Julie Rikelman also found that the groups suing the government “cannot show that a stay of the district court’s order … would cause them substantial injury.”

Barron was appointed by former President Obama, while Gelpí and Rikelman are appointees of former President Biden.

More...

Two people were arrested following an apparent marriage proposal atop the Empire State Building’s spire on Wednesday, after they climbed to the very pinnacle of the New York City landmark – well above the level open to the public.

The two people were identified as Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, two Russian “rooftoppers” who have conducted similar stunts in other cities including Tianjin, China, and Los Angeles. They were both wearing black clothing and appeared to be masked as they unfurled a large, black banner at the top of the skyscraper with the words: “When the power of love beats the love of power the ‌world knows peace.”

It remained unclear how the pair made their way up the final stages of the building, which towers above midtown Manhattan at a height of 1,454ft (443 metres). Local media outlets reported a New York police department (NYPD) drone in the air, in addition to an NYPD helicopter near the scene monitoring the breathtaking stunt.

Shortly after 12.30pm, the two climbed down to a slightly lower platform on the structure that holds the antenna atop the building. One person then got down on one knee, and after what appeared to be a proposal from a man to a woman, the two people hugged and kissed.

More...

Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, partakes in the NYC Pride march on Sunday.

The grand marshal Gays Against Guns group join in the 57th annual NYC Pride march as it proceeds down Fifth Avenue from Midtown to Greenwich Village. Nonviolently challenging gun violence, the direct action group was founded in response to the loss of 49 lives at Pulse Nightclub on 12 June 2016.

Bowen Yang, the comedian, actor and Parade grand marshal, attends the NYC Pride march on Fifth Avenue on Sunday.

Enjoy the photos here...

New details of an unverified ransom note previously sent to at least one news outlet following the alleged kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy Guthrie, are becoming public four months after her disappearance.

A second ransom note released shortly after the 84-year-old's suspected abduction in Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 1 claimed that she was dead, NBC News, ABC News and CBS News reported on Monday, June 22. NBC and ABC cited unnamed people "familiar with" the case, while CBS referred to "sources who reviewed the notes."

After stepping back from the "Today" show in February, Savannah Guthrie returned to the program to resume anchoring duties in April. Sitting down with her longtime colleague Hoda Kotb in March, a tearful Guthrie said she and her siblings "are in agony" over her mother's disappearance, adding, "It is unbearable."

"There are a lot of different notes, I think that came. And I think most of them, it's my understanding, are not real," Guthrie told Kotb in a "Today" interview segment released March 26. "But I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those were real."

More...

At least 12 people in a crowd on a Chicago street suffered gunshot wounds after an SUV pulled up and two people inside the vehicle started shooting, police said.

The SUV drove away from the South Side neighborhood, leaving two people, both male, in critical condition following the shooting late on Friday, police said in a news release. One suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh.

The eight men and four women in the group ranged in age from 17 to 47. They were being treated at four hospitals.

Police said another man suffered unknown injuries and refused medical treatment.

Police initially responded to a call of one person shot, and found a woman with two gunshot wounds to her back and a man with four graze wounds to his back. Both were listed in fair condition.

More...